W. Kentucky names Steve Lutz of Texas A&M-CC as new head coach

Western Kentucky has hired Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Steve Lutz as its new men’s basketball coach, the school announced Saturday.

Lutz is coming off back-to-back NCAA Men’s Tournaments, guiding the Islanders to a regular-season title from Southland this season. They beat southeast Missouri State in the top four earlier this week before falling to Alabama 96-75 in the first round on Thursday.

“I am very excited and appreciate the opportunity to be Western Kentucky’s next head coach,” Lutz said in a statement. “This is a storied program with a rich history of success. Our teams will proudly wear the WKU uniform and represent the Hilltopper Nation in everything we do. I look forward to meeting our players and our family can’t wait to join Green Community Bowling. Go to the top!”

In two seasons at Corpus Christi, Lutz is 47-23 overall and 21-11 in conference.

Prior to being hired as head coach, Lutz served as a longtime assistant coach at various levels of college basketball, including seven seasons at Creighton under Greg McDermott and four seasons at Purdue under Matt Painter. During his time with the Boilermakers, Lutz helped recruit Wooden Award favorite Zach Edey to West Lafayette.

“We are thrilled to name Steve Lutz as our next head coach,” Western Kentucky University athletic director Todd Stewart said in a statement. “He is a proven winner and respected coach with a track record of consistent success in recruiting, player development, academics and community involvement.”

Lutz began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Incarnate Word in 1995.

At Western Kentucky, he replaces Rick Stansbury, who left his post earlier this month after seven seasons with the Hilltoppers. They failed to reach the NCAA Tournament in any of his seven seasons. Prior to Stansbury’s tenure, Western Kentucky had a solid recent history in NCAA tournaments, going seven times under three coaches from 2001 to 2013 — including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2008 under Darrin Horn.